The next day, Aburame Shino joined our circle of friends. How this ended up happening is something that can be summarized as Chōko (me) finding praying mantises cute (they are the absolute cutest, next to snails), and Shino taking this glorious opportunity to socialize. Where did the praying mantis even come into the picture?
Well, it all happened during lunchtime. We were all just minding our business, eating lunch…and then Hinata started freaking out about something moving in her hair. I, being the daring and possibly overprotective friend, was quick to do something about it…and what I found in Hinata's hair was a praying mantis. Now I'm quite neutral to most types of bugs (unless they are wasps, hornets, and ants…those can go fall in a pit and roaches can just die), but I do have my favorites and a praying mantis just so happens to be one.
So after gently removing the praying mantis from Hinata's hair, I was immediately all over that bug, earning a number of strange looks from my friends as a result. Upon noticing said looks, I felt rather embarrassed, if only because it felt as though I was making an idiot out of myself, even though I wasn't.
Then freaking Shino caught us all off-guard by joining in on the conversation—how long has he been there? He probably came over as soon as he heard about the praying mantis I found. I know, praying mantises are pretty cool—wait, I'm getting off topic. Anyways, moments after Shino joined the conversation, I quickly realized how awkward this boy could come off as, due to his manner of speaking.
Now Shino isn't exactly that expressive of a person, but even I could tell that he was embarrassed to a certain extent after giving a couple of rather detailed facts on mantises (which I totally appreciate). He just stared at us as we stared back. We said nothing, and I was starting to feel restless with the awkward silence, so I said the first thing that popped into my mind.
"E-Eat?" Way to know how to word, Chōko.
At least it wasn't food, ahaha…
Shino just looked at me for a moment before faintly nodding his head. And that's all it really took for Shino to became part of our circle of friends. Circle of friends, circle of friends…
God, I miss my tenth grade English teacher…
…
…
Kunoichi classes went on as usual, except Hinata decided to tell me something she had kept from me during lunchtime as I was reading about flowers…
"What do you mean your father wants me over for dinner?" Where the hell did that come from? "Did you mention my name when you talked to your father the other day?"
Hinata shook her head. "N-No…but Neji-nii-sama t-told him about you…"
Dammit, Neji, why must you make everything difficult for me?! First Naruto, now me…I should've expected this, to be honest.
Still—what a jerk!
He and I are going to have some serious words, one of these days…or not. It depends if I can muster enough courage to do so.
"Am I going to have to dress up?" Because I honestly don't feel like wearing my yukata or kimono…I like being able to walk as freely as I can!
"N-No, you're fine," Hinata replied. "Wh-When do you th-think you can come?"
"Any time, I guess." To be honest, I don't really have anything better to do, so I usually have a lot of free time. "Just give me a day."
Hinata nodded. "I n-need to talk to my f-father, then…"
"Well, we'll figure it out tomorrow," I said as I rubbed the back of my head. "So do you know exactly how we're going to memorize the toxicity and non-toxicity of all these plants and flowers? Because I sure don't…"
You would think we would have already moved on from plants and flowers in class, but no. You'd be surprise how much more we had left to learn in kunoichi classes about them. In fact, the entirety of this month's kunoichi classes is dedicated to plants and flowers. By the end of this month, we're going to get quizzed on this shit and I know I'm gonna fail…unless Hinata knows the secret to success!
"Please tell me you have a faint idea of this?" Please, Hinata, you're my only hope!
Hinata stared at me for a moment and smiled. "L-Let's start by s-seeing how much you kn-know…"
…
…
When I had become friends with Hinata, I had a very faint feeling that I was going to eventually visit the Hyuuga compound because of our friendship. I just wasn't expecting it to be so soon. Let me tell you about the Hyuuga compound—it's huge. Like, holy crap! My body is not ready…I'm already having regrets and—oh shit, is that Hiashi?!
"Welcome to our home," Hiashi said formally as I walked through the door.
Almost immediately, I felt like a plebeian, far below Hiashi's status. I honestly never thought I would ever feel like this, but I dunno, a lot of things have happened since I was reborn into this world…am I staring? Oh crap, I think I am!
"Thank you for having me over!" I suddenly blurted out.
…
Smooth, Chōko, smooth.
First impressions are important and look what you just did, ya dunderhead. God dammit, I hope I didn't embarrass Hinata.
"I am so sorry…" My face heated up as I bowed apologetically at Hiashi.
Hiashi just looked at me for a moment before turning to Hinata. "This is your friend?"
"Y-Yes," Hinata replied. "Th-This is Akimichi Ch-Chōko."
"Akimichi Chōko…" Hiashi repeated, as he looked me over. I felt completely exposed under his gaze…those blank, white eyes—they stare into my soul. They're nothing like Hinata's gentle eyes! "You must be the Akimichi with the fast-metabolism."
"I-I am…" Oh god, he's heard of me…
Is that really what people think when they hear my name?
"I see…" Hiashi turned his attention to Hinata. "Dinner will be ready in half an hour. You are free to do as you wish until then."
Hiashi left us right after saying that. Hinata and I waited until he was out of earshot before we both sighed in relief.
"Oh my god, I can't believe I did that…" My heart pounding…and I feel like crying…am I crying—am I? "Hinata, am I crying?"
"N-No, you're not…" Hinata frowned. "D-Do you feel l-like crying?"
"No…?" Emotions, stop, I do not need tears now!
Not here, at least!
"Do y-you want to g-go to my room?"
"Yes…"
…
…
Surprisingly enough, I did not cry. It probably helped that Hinata was brushing my hair. Getting my hair brushed always seems to calm me… Well, technically, the term would be combing, because Hinata is using a comb and the same term could be applied to Mama, but whatever (it's the same difference to me).
"D-Do you want m-me to do anything?" Hinata asked me.
I thought for a moment before replying, "Can you braid my hair? I-I mean…if you can, that is…"
It's okay if you can't…
"I-I'll try…" Hinata said softly as she started to separate my hair.
Within the next eight minutes, Hinata managed to plait my waist-length hair into a neat braid. It's so weird, that a simple braid can make such a difference. My hair was no longer all over the place, but contained in that braid…just like how it used to be, in my past life.
Mamá…
Am I…am I really getting emotional over a braid?
Really, Chōko, really?
My head's hurting again, from thinking too much…but my chest feels so fuzzy and warm. I was so happy with the braid—so very, very happy… I think I'll keep it—no…I'm definitely keeping it. I'll keep it as long as I can…
"Thank you, Hinata!" Thank you for everything…
Breathe, Chōko—breathe!
"Y-You're welcome…" Hinata blushed.
"H-Hey…can I c-comb your hair?" I have been eyeing your hair since like forever and I want so badly to touch it and comb it and…please don't think I'm weird, please don't think I'm weird—
"You can." Hinata smiled at me as she handed me the comb.
I resisted the urge to squeal as I took the comb from Hinata. Whenever I see pretty hair, I just have this urge to touch it…I'm not a creeper, I promise!
…
Oh.
My.
God.
Hinata, I am extremely jealous of your hair. It's so soft and silky and such a pretty color and— "Can I have your hair?"
"N-No?" Hinata was probably caught off guard by my question. I wouldn't blame her.
"Sorry…I just really like your hair…" Not saying my hair is bad or anything, it's just…Hinata has dark blue hair and I think that is awesome. Meanwhile with me, I'm stuck with plain, brown hair that's the same color as Chōji's hair. I'm not saying having brown hair is bad, but I had dark brown hair in the past and being reborn in the Naruto world means you can have just about any color on the entire color spectrum as a hair color, so excuse me for hoping I had been born with Chōza's red hair… Why does he have red hair, anyway? Isn't that trait exclusive to the Uzumaki clan? Or are there genetic exceptions?
…
I have no idea.
I'm not a fucking geneticist…though I could have been in my past life. I was always good at the genetics portion of biology, but I was also a gamer girl and my love for video games overturns SCIENCE. Still, I am kinda curious of how genetics work here…no, Chōko! Bad…you're setting yourself up for a major headache.
You have enough headaches as is!
"Hello, what have we have here?" A soft, gentle voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Okaa-sama!" Hinata exclaimed, sounding both a little surprised and happy.
Upon hearing Hinata's exclamation, my attention quickly shifted to the person who I just recently noticed was in the room and—HOLY HELL! HINATA'S MOTHER IS GORGEOUS.
With pale skin like a porcelain doll, dark blue hair that's so long and looks so silky and lustrous. White, featureless eyes that should have probably looked so unnerving, but didn't, because of how full of love they were.
She's so pretty…
"Ahh…" I could feel my face heat up as I continued to stare at Hinata's mother, who just smiled gently at us. While I didn't see much of a resemblance between Hinata and Hiashi, with this lovely lady…I can see whom Hinata took after… Please tell me I'm not staring…
"Chōko-chan, a-are you okay?" Hinata asked me.
Dammit, I am staring! Quick, say something that won't embarrass yourself, Chōko! "You're gorgeous!"
That is not what I wanted to say!
Good going, Chōko!
"O-Oh, my!" Hinata's mother blushed in response to my outburst, in a manner most similar to what Hinata usually does.
Oh gosh, she's just as cute, too—aaaahhh!
I covered my mouth to avoid saying anything else that could embarrass me (aesthetically attractive people are my weakness), but I can tell that it's too late for that. My face was redder than a tomato by this point. My eyes were starting to feel a little misty, and my heart was pounding so hard, it felt like it was going to explode. Embarrassment hit me hard.
Thankfully, Hinata's mother was an absolute sweetheart and took my outburst as a compliment instead of thinking I was weird. "You have such a nice friend, Hinata-chan…did you braid her hair?"
"Y-Yes," Hinata replied.
"It looks nice on her," her mother remarked, her smile never once leaving her face. "It definitely suits her…"
I don't know why, but to hear that from Hinata's mother…it made me feel happy. I haven't had my hair braided since I was like…twelve-years-old in my past life. Then I got my first haircut and any chances of me being able to braid my hair went out the window. So having my hair in a braid again after so long…even if it is as Chōko, just—it just feels nice…especially since Hinata was the one to braid it.
"Oh, I almost forgot…I'm Hyuuga Himawari," Hinata's mother introduced herself. "It's nice to meet you…"
"Ch-Chōko!" I quickly responded. "Akimichi Chōko…"
I'm also known as the Akimichi with a fast-metabolism who breaks the occasional sliding door. You might want to keep your sliding doors away from me…
"Akimichi Chōko…I see, I see…" Himawari certainly found me interesting. "Well, I'll be on my way. I just wanted to see my daughter's cute little friend, so excuse me if I interrupted anything."
Himawari left the room after that. It took me a minute to find my voice and tell Hinata, or rather, ask her, "Did your mother just call me cute?"
I can hear just fine and I know what Himawari just said…but for an attractive person to call me "cute"…I need a moment.
Oh god, I'm going to die young at this rate from blushing too much!
…
…
Dinner with the Hyuuga clan was going on exactly as how I had expected it to be: quiet, awkward, and tense—dammit, Neji! Stop staring at Hinata like that! I would say something, but considering my current position and the fact that I had already embarrassed myself enough as is, I stayed quiet. The last thing I need was Hiashi's stare on me again…those eyes.
Then Himawari smiled at me and I didn't feel as tense anymore. Seriously, Hinata's mother is a gem…
"How exactly did you and Hinata befriend each other, Akimichi-san?" Hiashi suddenly asked.
I nearly choked on a mouthful of rice when Hiashi had asked me that. I swallowed hard and tried ignore the stares that were directed at me. "Ah…Hinata was actually the one to befriend me…She defended me when these girls started picking on me during the first day of kunoichi classes…"
Breathe, Chōko, breathe—don't you dare cry!
"Did she…?" Hiashi's attention turned to Hinata, whose face was a brilliant shade of red. He seemed surprised. Maybe it was the thought that his shy, little daughter had somehow managed to defend someone like me from bullies. That seems to be the case.
Even Neji couldn't believe it—yeah, I saw that look! Don't think no one has noticed…
I'm watching you, boy…
Himawari seemed rather pleased with what she heard. "I see, I see…is there anything else you haven't told us yet, Hinata-chan?"
"Y-Yesterday, we made f-friends with Aburame Sh-Shino…" Hinata replied.
Hiashi took an interest with what he heard. "An Aburame…"
"First, an Akimichi, and then an Aburame?" Himawari smiled. "All that is left is an Uchiha…I hear the Uchiha clan head's youngest child is attending the Academy…Sasuke-kun, was it?"
Ahh, Sasuke…yeah, to be honest, I haven't been paying much attention to him…like, at all. I would rather not have thoughts on anything regarding the Uchiha Clan Massacre—nooope. He's still in the same class as me and he's like, what—four? His clan is still alive… Really, I'm not all too concerned about Sasuke just yet.
Ohgodohgodohgod…
Not. Worried. Nope.
Hinata nodded her head. "H-He's in our class, b-but we haven't r-really talked to him…"
"Maybe you should try," Himawari suggested. "Wouldn't it be nice for the Four Noble Clans to form a close bond this way?"
"It would be beneficial in creating strong alliances." Hiashi agreed with his wife.
…Huh, it actually would. How the hell did I not notice this until now? Well, Hinata's definitely proving to be a promising heiress in the eyes of Hiashi—Neji, stop looking so annoyed. Can you like, for one second, put aside your disdain for your cousin and anyone within the Main House in general? Seriously, this is gonna be a fun seven to eight years…
At least dinner was less tense and nerve-wracking after that. Of course, Neji was still being a stick in the mud and…he has really nice hair.
So pretty and silky-looking—why is his hair so freaking nice?!
Dammit, I'm doing it again. I need to stop staring at people—
"Do you need something?" Neji abruptly asked me.
I blinked as a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of my face. "Ah…"
When did he get so close—his hair fucking shines in the light!
That's so not fair!
"If you do not, then can you please stop staring at me?" Neji's brows were furrowed in annoyance. "Well?"
I stared at Neji for a full minute after that, trying to carefully choose my words.
"I think you have pretty hair." Well, I tried and it looks like I just dug my own grave.
It was nice knowing you, Hinata.
On the bright side, at least I didn't blurt it out or anything, so I consider that progress and is Neji blushing?!
I didn't think Neji was the type to blush—aaahhhh!
"N-Neji-nii-sama, are you o-okay?" Hinata's question had all attention focused on Neji, whose face was a lovely shade of crimson.
Neji was too flustered to even answer Hinata. Apparently, my comment had caught him completely by surprise. Rather badly, at that, with the way he couldn't even form a coherent sentence.
…
I'm gonna die young, aren't I?
…
…
It was safe to say that, by the end of the day, Neji had become completely wary of me, with the way he kept his distance. Himawari seems to like me and I have no idea what Hiashi even thinks of me. Hinata had a good time, at least…and I guess I did, as well. I mean, making Neji blush is quite the accomplishment…and I honestly wasn't even trying. I was being completely honest about what I had said.
Still, I should work on avoiding outbursts like that in the future. Otherwise, my chance at the shinobi life will end before it can even begin.
Let's try to at least make it to adolescence!
Putting all that aside, life went on as usual. Hinata and I were still close, as was Naruto. Shino was slowly adjusting to our circle of friends (give him some time), and Shikamaru and Chōji might as well be part of that circle of friends. Life was definitely good and I can appreciate that.
…
About a week before Chōji and I turned five, we were asked to invite our friends over to the Akimichi compound for our birthday. While Chōji was quick to invite Shikamaru, he left the rest of the invitations to me, so I was the one who had to personally invite Hinata, Shino, and Naruto. Now that wasn't too hard (surprisingly).
Except there's one thing I should have expected from inviting Hinata and Shino. And that was that word should have reached their parents. And if word reached their parents, chances are, they were most likely going to contact my parents. And for that reason alone, what was supposed to be a simple birthday party of sorts, turned into a gathering for the Four Noble Clans. Because the fact that I had managed to befriend a Hyuuga and Aburame wasn't overlooked so easily, as I had initially…and when I say Four Noble Clans, I mean exactly four.
Akimichi, Hyuuga, and Aburame…that's three, you're thinking.
And you're right!
Except, even though I have yet to associate with anyone within the clan, the Uchiha clan had been invited. So when I answered the door to greet our guests, I got one hell of a shock when I found myself staring into a pair of extremely distinct onyx-colored eyes belonging to none other than a four-year-old Uchiha Sasuke.
And holding onto Sasuke's hand, was Itachi, in his nine-year-old glory.
…
Huh, he does really look like a weasel…
"What?" Itachi suddenly said.
Oh fuck, did I say that out loud?
Shit!
…
…
…
A/N 4-10-16 Even more edits and stuff and by the way, it was 11-5-14 when this chapter first went up, so the fact that Hinata's mother is named Himawari? All a coincidence, because I didn't know about Uzumaki Himawari until after and just…that fucking coincidence! Also, as an FYI, Chōko has a weakness towards people she considers aesthetically attractive. I mention it later, but like…Chōko is, like every other of my SI OCs, asexual—meaning she does not experience sexual attraction (just like me!). So yeah…but she does experience romantic attraction. So just keep that in mind.
If you honestly think about it, alliances can usually begin with friendships and if you take into consideration that three clans out of the four had their children befriend each other, then you will realize how much of an opportunity there is out of that. I only just realized that right after Shino entered the scene. Yes, I can be slow.
So I found out that Hinata's mother is a huge mystery. Like, is she alive or not? What is her name? For now, I can definitely say she is alive…and that her name is Himawari. Himawari, by the way, means sunflower, which has the meaning "love and respect" in the Japanese language of flowers. I dunno, I thought the name was fitting for someone who was Hinata's mother.
Moving on, in this chapter, you've noticed a quirk Chōko has, that quirk being how she says what is on her mind. It's not exactly how you'd imagine it to be, what with saying what's on her mind being things like, "you're gorgeous" and "you have pretty hair". More often than not, Chōko is going to end up embarrassing herself because of it. In hindsight, it makes her quite the unpredictable person, which can catch people, like Neji, by surprise. So there are pros and cons to it.
And if it weren't for the fact that I put priorities into video games, I'd probably be most likely invested in a field of science…genetics, based on how well I did on that portion in biology. It's either that or psychology…but I digress. Anyways, I do wonder how exactly genetics would work in the world of Naruto. I mean, when you got a wide array of hair types and colors, it just makes you wonder how likely the probably of traits like that being passed onto the offspring and I should stop talking science. But seriously, that would probably give a geneticist a headache.
Anyway, thanks to Hinata, Chōko now has her hair in a braid. It gives Chōko a sense of nostalgia and, in the long run, braids are the way to go if you have long hair and you're planning on fighting or running a lot. That's basically the shinobi life in a nutshell, so Chōko is prepared for that shit!
And if you're wondering about the comment involving that tenth grade English teacher…well, my tenth grade English teacher, as my Academic Decathlon coach in my senior year, would usually say, "Circle of friends, circle of friends" to refer to the entire class. It just caught on…
So there you have it. This chapter was basically learning more about Chōko as a person as she interacts with the world around her…and making friends with Shino. I am honestly a little disappointed with how little attention Shino got in this chapter, so I'm hoping to fix that soon because the poor guy gets ignored enough as is. Aside from that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
I should honestly be working on my ten to fifteen sentences in French, but naaah…you guys know me…well, most of you do. To those who don't, I tend to prioritize fanfiction over college homework and let's just say I've ended up doing work at the last minute hours before it was due.
Until next time everyone! KD out! XD